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Star Wars Celebration is going on in Anaheim, California, and while I won’t even try to keep everyone up to date on all those happenings, the biggest news out of the event was the second mammoth “Force Awakens” trailer which completely lit up the Internet yesterday.

The first trailer was designed to whet appetites and set the stage for what to expect from this next foray into the Star Wars universe. Well, the second trailer was obviously meant to be a big, meaty bite of steak dinner.

From the opening scene of a small hover vehicle cruising past the crashed corpse of a Super Star Destroyer, to the smashed remains of Darth Vader’s helmet, all the way to a gray haired Han Solo at the end, this second trailer hits all the nostalgic sweet spots. I’m not nearly as fully invested in Star Wars as a property now as I was even twenty years ago, but they certainly seem to be working hard to bring in the old crowd and the new. Check out that trailer below.

Meanwhile, a theatrical event designed to reveal the Batman vs. Superman “Dawn of Justice” trailer has already resulted in leaked video hitting the web, giving us our first real look at this new Zack Snyder film featuring DC’s two biggest heavyweights.

Color me underwhelmed. I know it’s just a first trailer, again, just designed to introduce folks to this new universe, but besides the typical gray Zack Snyder overlays and over-dramatic voiceover, it didn’t do anything to wow me. Maybe I’ll feel different when it’s not a subpar video-camera capture.

I’m one of those folks who actually thoroughly enjoyed Man of Steel, too, so I’m already half on board this new Zack Snyder DC train, but this first glimpse at Batman vs. Superman did nothing to keep me committed.

Aaron Berg recently worked on a script entitled Section 6, diving into the origins of British spy agency MI6, so he seems to have that dark ops history in his back pocket. While he’s a new writer, Berg has received lots of praise (and a reported 7 figure deal) for his Section 6 script and seems to be a hot ticket in Hollywood right now. Rumor is, Hugh Jackman is very interested in Section 6, so Berg’s name carries at least some weight.

What does this mean for the film? Tough to say. Having a script writer with this pedigree (even if it based off only a single script) is a great start. Already cycling through Wernick/Reese, Dougherty, and now Berg, one has to wonder just what the plans are for the third G.I. Joe film. But with all of these musical chairs, perhaps fans can hold on to some hope that Paramount is desperately trying to do things right?

How this will potentially impact production remains to be seen. Early rumors were that production would begin early this year, but if they’re just barely bringing in (another) script writer, that seems highly dubious at best. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out, and let’s hope the third G.I. Joe film doesn’t get stuck in some kind of development black hole.

It’s tough to imagine Metal Gear Solid as a film really evolving beyond the video game, because the video game universe itself is so cinematic. Really beyond pluggin in actual actors to CGI, how can they make the video game any more of a film than it already is?

That being said, the Metal Gear world remains one of my all time favorite video game universes, and I won’t lie, the prospect of a big budget film gets me a bit amped up, even if I can’t quite conceive of how it would improve what already exists.

As a film project, Metal Gear Solid has been in limbo for a long time, but Sony appears to have found a writer in the form of Jay Basu. He doesn’t have a long and established resume as of yet, but seems to be in demand by Hollywood.

The film is being produced by Avi and Ari Arad, so there appears to be some substance to this. We’ll see how it all pans out.

We’ve already seen trailers and gathered details about Star Wars: Episode VII – the Force Awakens, but what about those promised future Star Wars movies on the horizon?

At a shareholder meeting today, Bob Iger, Disney chairman and CEO revealed the next stage of plans for the Star Wars film universe.

The first Star Wars stand-alone film will be called Rogue One, and it’s slated to be directed by Gareth Edwards and star Felicity Jones. Meanwhile, Rian Johnson is set to write and direct Episode VIII, which arrives in theaters May 26, 2017.

We are painfully aware that we’re not recording quite as often as we did in the past, but we’re trying to make every one of them count!

For Episode 94 we excitedly welcomed back two long time friends of What’s on Joe Mind, Bill Ratner (the voice of Flint) and Arune Singh (Executive Director of Television Communications, Marvel Entertainment) to have some very different discussions.

Mr. Ratner provides awesome detail about G.I. Joe history, while also breaking down his exciting new endeavor at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Meanwhile, Arune celebrates Transformers return to movie screens this summer (and the debut of the IDW comic book) with a spirited discussion about how a G.I. Joe/Transformers team up could work.

As always, check out the latest episode on Podbean, or through the embedded player below. Show notes after the jump!

As excited as many Real American Hero fans were about some of the announcements at Toy Fair a short while ago, there is a segment of the community that felt a little bit left out. So when three representatives from that community invited me onto their podcast to chat about Toy Fair reveals, I jumped at the chance, eager to see their perspective. It certainly helps that Barry, Tod, and Dave are all great guys who are really closely invested in the G.I. Joe fandom and do regular work for the G.I. Joe Collectors Club!

Well, I couldn’t have had a better time. All three of them are veritable geek experts (as listeners of their podcast can certainly attest to) and we talked about everything from G.I. Joe’s 50th Anniversary to Guardians of the Galaxy, Harold Ramis, and many other things in between. It was a blast.

And folks looking for information about my dio-story may want to listen to… I break a bit of news on that front as well. :)

Heck, we even talk a little bit about the Adventure Team Chronicles and “Shattered Glass” concept, considering podcast host Tod Pleasant is the writer of that particular adventure.

You can find the latest episode over on iTunes, and the show notes are below.

SHOW NOTES

In 1964 Hasbro introduced G.I. Joe, America’s Movable Fighting Man, and the Action Figure was born. As fans of G.I. Joe gear up to recognize their plastic hero’s golden anniversary, controversy, Joe’s frequent companion, one again makes an appearance. Is Hasbro giving Joe his due? Barry, Dave and Tod, the Regular Joes are joined by Justin Bell from the What’s on Joe Mind podcast to talk it out. Also, a salute to the late great Harold Ramis, with movie picks, and another round of Who Would Win in a Fight. Yo Joe!

The dichotomy between 2013 and this upcoming new year couldn’t have been more stark than it was when I was researching the Top 10 biggest news stories for the past year. We went from anticipating a new film, lots of new Hasbro release toys, the emergence of Kre-O, and many other potential new G.I. Joe events from the upcoming year to a year of total uncertainty.

Today marks the beginning of the 50th Anniversary of the G.I. Joe brand, a brand steeped in history and cultural relevance, and it seems to be a real shame that such an event would go mostly ignored by Hasbro, who wouldn’t exist as an entity today without G.I. Joe’s presence throughout the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. A damn shame that nearly four full decades of success relegates a once remarkable brand to the potential dustbins of history and pop culture insignificance. G.I. Joe as a brand helped build you, Hasbro. It would be nice if you would at least spend some efforts trying to return the favor.

Rant over. :)

Click the “Continue Reading” link below to see my list of the Top 10 biggest G.I. Joe news stories of 2013, let’s all cross our fingers that there are enough reasons to be writing up a similar list this time next year!

G.I. Joe: Retaliation is right around the corner… only mere days away! The lucky folks over in London actually got their red carpet premiere last week, and both GeneralsJoes and the What’s on Joe Mind podcast were fortunate enough to have some representatives at the London premiere.

Dave Tree from All the Cool Stuff and Russ Sheath, contributor to Aint It Cool News both very kindly offered to cover the event on our behalf, and they knocked the ball out of the friggen park! Hitting the red carpet, recording the press conference, and even getting a face-to-face interview with director Jon M Chu!

Most of the audio coverage from the red carpet and press conference event is now posted in audio format on Special Edition #26 of What’s on Joe Mind, but the interview with Jon Chu can be read below. This is was a fantastic opportunity for both the podcast and this website, and we greatly appreciate Paramount, Mr. Chu, and of course Dave and Russ for getting this all together for us. We are infinitely grateful for everyone’s participation and willingness to work with us.

Click the “Read the Rest of the Story” link below to check out the full review!

As soon as I got this press release in my mailbox, I was at least a little bit intrigued. Labeled as being from a writer on “24” and “Clone Wars” I knew at least the action component of this new series would be pretty solid. It’s a fun new concept, taking what is very much a first-person shooter Point of View and putting it to film.

Footage is seen via helmet cams and security footage as a Homeland Security response team meets up with a Mexican cartel. Lots of action, lots of gunfire. Seems like something G.I. Joe fans just might be interested in. Featuring actors from such acclaimed series as Dexter, The Unit, Heroes, and Prison Break, this is a high quality, high octane web series that I think folks will enjoy.